Soundgarden
by SugarMinuet
Summary: Years after the series ends, the gaang has split up and gone their seperate ways. But when the humans find a way into the spirit world and begin to pollute it, can Aang and Katara get everyone back together before it's to late? Collab fic!
1. Chapter 1

COLLAB: CHAPTER 1

I've felt this way before. Constantly running from the authorities.

Of course, before I had my group of friends and many other people throughout the world that stood right beside me. Now, I have been split up from my friends; no one is here to side with me this time.

Its been this way for about two months now. I'm forced to conceal my identity constantly, or risk being turned in immediately.

I have to keep going though. The way things are isn't good, and it seems I'm the only one who is willing to change it.

After I had to defeat the Fire lord many years ago, and peace had finally returned to the world, humans found a bridge to enter the spirit world and come and go as they pleased in human form. Many considered it a gift from the spirits for finally finding amity after so many years of war.

At first everything was fine, no one disturbed the spirits, and people mainly just came there to be happy. Then, people began living there and brought with them modern day machinery and other things that had already begun to harm our own world. In the spirit world, the lakes, rivers, creeks, caves, all of it, began to become polluted.

The spirits became angry and tried to kick the humans out. They were denied, and it began an all-out war.

I tried to step in, but neither side listened to me. The spirits refuse to let me into the spirit world any more, and the people here want me dead.

Which is why I'm on the run, and desperately looking for help from anyone.

Fortunately, I know my old friends are still around somewhere, so my first goal is to find them and bring the old group back together.

The only one I kept in touch with after so long was Katara.

After the war ended, she left to start her own private life. She ended up opening a club that had been in favor of the Avatar. Once all of the spirit world problems began to rise, she was quickly put out of business.

But, if I know Katara, she would never leave that place, so she couldn't be too far from where the club used to be. I'm guessing she's hiding out somewhere close by, and I have to find her.

The club was in a small village, by the ocean, in the Earth Kingdom.

I'm not sure where I'll look to find her, but my first stop will be at the run down club. Hopefully, I can find some kind of clue to where she went.

This village has been reduced to nothing.

When I arrived in this village, I was utterly shocked at the lack of civilization. There is no one here. All of the buildings seem like they haven't been used in years, almost as if you even tried walking in them now, the floorboards may crack.

**Since the commotion has only started two months ago, I knew the destruction of this village must have been fairly recent.**

I walk through what is left of the village, barely recognizing any of these buildings. I'm only hoping I can at least recognize the building that means the most to me right now.

Eventually, I see it.

There is no proof that it is the right place, but a gut feeling tells me this is where it is, so I decide to head into the now torn up building.

It was obviously long deserted. Everything was thrown everywhere and fallen over, my guess was from being searched for more people. Dust coated the walls and floors, which also contained many holes that animals must have dug into.

If Katara is still here, I can only imagine how she is getting by under these living conditions.

"Katara," I call out, "It's me, Aang!"

There was no response.

I call out again and again as I walk farther throughout the building. After checking the entire place, I return to the front and look around.

Then, as I take a step forward, I hear the wooden floorboard creak abnormally loudly.

I tap my foot on it again. Then I tap the floorboards around it. They are all making strange sounds.

I get to my knees and knock on it with my hands, and can tell its is dense.

I start prying at the boards to lift them up, and with enough force, they begin to lift up one by one.

After all of the possible boards have been moved aside, I see a stairwell in their place. Quickly, I walk down the stairs.

At the end, there is a fixed-up, small basement with concrete walls and furnishings. There are a few pots and pans near the back that sit next to a small mattress with a blanket and pillow sitting on top.

The basement was clean and well-kept, meaning that someone obviously was living here now.

I walk around to try and find the person living here. It seems no one was there at the time, until I hear footsteps on the stairs.

"Hello?" says the person behind the footsteps, "Who is there?"

Then, she comes into view.

It's Katara. She looks a little different from the last time I had seen her, but her face was still the dark tan it had always been, with her huge light-blue eyes. Her outfit was a light green dress, clearly Earth Kingdom.

She was just as beautiful as I remember, and I couldn't have been happier to see her.

"Aang…" She says once she sees me.

She runs over to me and embraces me in an extremely tight hug, and I can feel the tears from her face dripping onto the back of my shirt.

"It's been so long, and I've missed you so much, I thought they had gotten you by now" She tells me.

"I've missed you too, Katara. I thought they had taken you away to. Have you heard from Sokka, Toph, or Zuko? Do you know where they are?"

Katara looks down at the floor with a sad look on her face.

"I'm not sure where any of them are. I've had to live down here since all of this started."

"Well, when was the last time you heard from them?" I asked with a worried expression.

"The last time I heard from any of them was when Sokka decided to go back to the Northern Water Tribe. That was months ago, though. I have no idea about the rest of them" She said sadly.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The ages are as follows:

Zuko: 23

Sokka: 23

Katara: 22

Aang: 18

Toph: 18

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to us.

"_Well, when was the last time you heard from them?" I asked with a worried expression._

"_The last time I heard from any of them was when Sokka decided to go back to the Northern Water Tribe. That was months ago, though. I have no idea about the rest of them" She said sadly._

"Well then, that sounds like a good place to start. Let's go to the Northern Water Tribe!" I said, suddenly hopeful. The idea of having everyone back together brought back memories, good memories, of when we traveled together as a group, a family. I missed that more than I could say.

"What are you expecting to happen? Even if we do get everyone together… Everyone has their own lives now, how can you be so sure they'll want to leave them? Sokka is back together with our father, something he's wanted for a very long time. Zuko is the Fire Lord, I don't think you can just put that on hold to get a reunion together and travel the world. And who knows where Toph is! She could be anywhere, and-" Katara was skeptical, obviously. She had a good point, but I wasn't convinced.

"They would drop what they were doing and come help us because we're family. And that's what families do, help each other. I think it'll work, Katara. I think they can help us, I really do," I countered. She was quiet for a minute, torn between her options.

"Well, you _are _the Avatar, who am I to argue?" She said finally, smiling. I grinned and hugged her tightly for a moment, but a thought interrupted our embrace. "How are we even going to get to the Water Tribe? Before, we had Appa. But he's not exactly inconspicuous, and people are looking for me. How are we going to travel without him?" I asked. This was a big hole in our plan; if we couldn't travel, we couldn't find the others, and if we couldn't do that… The world would be in big trouble.

We talked for several minutes, forming a plan, and finally decided to get a boat. We could sail to the Water Tribe and find Sokka. He'd probably have a good plan for us, being the idea guy (A/N: referring to the episode _The Serpent's Pass_) that he was.

We gathered a few supplies, put them on a boat, and headed out. A few days time would land us in the village we were looking for, and hopefully Sokka along with it. Katara and I used waterbending to move much faster along the river than we would have otherwise, but it's still quite a long journey for a small boat to make. Katara and I talked for a while to pass the time.

"So, Katara… what've you been up to in the past few years? It's been so long… I've really missed you," I say, trying to fill the awkward gap in conversation.

"Well, I settled down in a house for a while, just doing odd jobs for income. Sokka lived with me for a while, before he went back to the Water Tribe. Once I had enough money, I opened up a club. People from all nations, benders and nonbenders, everyone who had something good to say about the Avatar was welcome, and it was very popular. It was good business, lots of money, too. But when things started to get bad, and the warrant went out for your arrest, I was closed down. I would have been arrested if it weren't for the little cellar I had built for protection from storms. How've you been getting along?"

"Your club was… for the Avatar?"

"Well yes. Y-you _did _save the world, and a lot of people were looking for a place to celebrate and pay thanks to us. I've been meaning to write to you, but since I've been in hiding for so long, I didn't get the chance to," she said awkwardly, blushing.

"Wow, that's a great honor, thank you Katara. But to answer your question, I didn't settle down anywhere. I _am_ a nomad, after all. I've been traveling, not spending too much time in any one place, just checking in on how the world's been doing. I've got to keep everything in balance. So when people started to mess with the balance between the spirit world and the physical one, I did everything I could. But I failed." I said dejectedly. Katara wrapped her arms around me tightly, and I felt the blush rush to my cheeks. "We'll fix this," she whispered in my ear.

Eventually we reached our destination. We asked around the village, and soon came across the tent where Sokka was living. We peeked inside, and found Sokka sitting on the floor shining and sharpening his sword.

"Hey there, ponytail," I said as I stepped into the tent. He looked up and grinned.

"AANG!" he yelled, throwing down his sword and hugging me in a flying leap. He composed himself after a few seconds, and Katara entered the room. "Hey there little sister!" He called as he mussed her hair. After a few minutes of catching up, we explained the situation to him. We decided that our best bet would be to find Zuko first, then Toph. Before we set sail again, Katara wanted a few words with her father.

KATARA POV

I looked around for my father, and didn't see him. I looked everywhere I could think of, until I finally found him sitting next to the ocean, deep in thought.

"Hi dad," I said, tears filling my eyes.

"Katara, I've missed you," he replied, and we hugged. I told him what I've been doing since we last talked, and we talked for about a half hour until Sokka interrupted.

"Hey, I hate to cut you short, but we've really got to get going if we want to get to the Fire Nation any time soon. Aang and I are done loading my things into the boat and finding a map and everything else, so we're ready whenever you are," Sokka said before he ducked away quickly and sat in the boat staring at me to make me feel pressure to wrap things up quickly. He could be such an idiot sometimes…

"Well, I guess I have to go. But it was great talking to you again dad, and I'll visit soon, when all this is over," I said before hugging him goodbye.

I ran to the boat, we double checked everything, and then we set off to the Fire Nation to talk to our old friend Fire Lord Zuko.

FIN

(of chapter 2)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are welcomed and encouraged, good or bad. Thanks for reading, and join us next time!


	3. Chapter 3

COLLAB: CHAPTER 3

A/N: Moar cowbell! I added some moar cowbell for the awesome reviewer who put that. I love you secret reviewer! Oh, and this picks up with Katara's POV still.

The boat ride to the Fire Nation was definitely a memorable one. Sokka kept Aang and I entertained with his eccentric stories for most of the time. It also gave all of us more time to catch up.

The feeling of being in a group with them again was indescribable. It had been so long since it had just been the three of us traveling together.

"Hey Katara, look!" Said Sokka as he held up a tiny purple octopus-like creature close to my face, taking me away from my thoughts.

"Ah! Sokka! Where did you even find that?" I said after taking it from Sokka to keep him from bringing it any closer to my face.

"It was just swimming around. Remember when we used these little guys to fool the Fire Nation into thinking we had some deadly disease?' Sokka said as he put the tiny creature onto his forehead.

Just as I was about to respond, Aang came back from swimming, with the creatures all over his body.

"Look Sokka! I found a lot more! I bet it means we are getting close to shore now!" Aang said with a huge grin on his face.

"I'll check the map" I said as I went over to our supply bag. Sokka and Aang continued to put the octopi all over their bodies, acting like children as usual.

Later that day we reached land. Although Sokka and I would not be considered suspicious by authorities, Aang still had his arrows, which were a dead give-away since he was the only airbender left.

We wrapped over Aang's arrows with extra cloth we had, and tied it into a knot so it would stay on his head.

We began walking towards where the Fire Nation palace was supposed to be.

"According to the map," Sokka said, "We should be able to make it to the palace before sundown!"

At around six o'clock, we reached the palace.

"Hurray!" Yelled Aang as he ripped the tied cloth from his head and floating around on a ball of air joyfully.

"Aang! What are you doing? We aren't even in there yet, someone could still see you!" Sokka said to Aang.

Aang came to an abrupt stop with a pouty expression on his face, to which Sokka just rolled his eyes.

As we began to approach the palace, we heard someone coming towards us from the gates surrounding the place.

"I thought I heard a familiar voice," said the mysterious voice in a husky tone.

Then, out stepped Zuko, the Firelord. He was dressed in a regal outfit, with his hair pulled back.

"Zuko!" said Aang as he flew into a hug with him, with Sokka close behind. They looked like excited little kids, the way they held onto him.

Zuko began to try and shake them off of him, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Then Zuko invited us into his palace, and we sat down for tea.

"Toph? Last I heard, she was living here in the Fire Nation, not to far from here either. My uncle used to visit her often." Zuko said after we asked him if he knew the whereabouts of Toph.

"Really? Then will he know where she is?" Aang asked.

"I'm sure he would, but he is traveling around and won't be back here for some time. I'm sure I could ask my assistants to find out where she lives, we do keep records of the people living here."

"That'd be great!" I say excitedly, "Once we find her, we will have the entire group back together!"

Zuko had a skeptical look on his face.

"Say we do find her. Then what? Do you guys have a plan at all for what our next move would be? You have to realize, the entire world, and spirit world will be against us this time. It won't be as easy as you all seem to think."

After moments of silence, Aang finally spoke up.

"No, we don't really have a plan, but I'm not just going to sit around doing nothing to help the situation," He said with a serious tone.

For a moment the two looked at each other with stern expressions. eventually, Zuko relaxed and sighed.

"Fine, I just hope it works out as well as you expect it to," He said as he sat back.

After Zuko was informed where Toph was, the next day, we made our way across town to where we were told.

It had taken much longer to find where the place was than necessary, mainly because of Sokka's inability to follow directions and try to lead us there, we had gotten lost multiple times. By the end of the day we were worn out.

When we saw the house, Sokka ran to the door and began to hit it rapidly. He waited for a few minutes, with no response.

"Toph," Sokka called, "Come on out, we want to see you."

"Maybe she isn't home Sokka," Aang said with disappointment.

We waited around for another minute or two until Zuko noticed one of the neighbors walking out of his house.

"You there," He said as he pointed to the man, "Could you possibly tell us where the girl that lives here is?"

"That house? Well I'm pretty sure that little girl was taken away a few months ago" He responded.

"Where did they take her?" I asked, worried.

"Oh I wouldn't think to far. The city prison is just a little over that way." The man said as he pointed to the left.

After the man had told us where the prison was, we quickly headed over to it. The man said he wasn't sure why they had taken Toph away, but he had heard it was because she was a well-known Avatar supporter. Hearing that had really made Aang feel guilty though.

We arrived at the prison a few minutes later.

"We are here to see a Toph Beifong. Please bring us to her." Zuko told the man at the front desk, with much authority.

The man obviously recognized Zuko as the Firelord, for he quickly shrank in his seat and began looking up the name. He told us to follow him after he found it, and lead us to where she was imprisoned.

When we arrived at her cell, that was made of wood, Zuko told the man to leave, to which he cowered away without protest.

"Toph!" I said when I saw her. She lifted her head up towards us with a confused expression on her face.

"Katara? Is that you?" She asked.

"Yes Toph, it's all of us actually, we have to get you out of here."

"It's about time. This cage is made of wood so I haven't been able to escape. Well? What are you guys waiting for?" She asked as she got up and felt for the edges of the cage.

I contemplated how to break the cell at first, but then I saw Sokka's machete in his bag, and grabbed it from him.

"Hey!" He yelled in protest, until he realized my idea.

I began hitting the cage until dents and cracks began to form on the wood and eventually busted through.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: OK! Fourth chapter, we're a-rockin'-and-a-rollin'! Thank you to any and all readers, reviewers, and… you know, everybody else… On with the story!

Disclaimer: We don't own anything by the way, in case you haven't figured that out by now.

Zuko's POV

"Stop right there!" yelled an angry, deep voice. I turned around to see the prison guard, a huge, manly man with a goatee and a tight uniform shirt. He grabbed Katara by the wrists and pinned her to the ground. She shouted in surprise and fear.

"Get off of her! Let her go!" I shouted. He half obeyed, taking both of her wrists in one hand while allowing her to stand up. "I said 'let her go'," I repeated. The guard raised one eyebrow and stared at me for a moment, before he recognized me.

"Fire Lord Zuko! Sorry. I didn't know she was a friend of yours. But I still need to lock her up, it's my job," he said. He griped her wrists tighter, and she winced in pain. This guy was making me angry, he better not hurt Katara.

"Listen, you answer to ME before you answer to anyone else. If I tell you to do something, I expect it done. I don't want to have you put in jail for treason, but I will if it comes to that. Now let her GO," I hissed at him. He thought for a moment, contemplating his options. He obviously didn't like the tone I was using with him. Demanding and harsh. I didn't like it either, but it never fails to get the job done. It doesn't fail this time, either. He shoved Katara down, almost into the hard ground below, but I caught her before she hits it. She stared at me for a moment, but I didn't notice too much. I just glared at the guard as he walked off.

Meanwhile, Sokka had already taken his machete back from where it had fallen onto the ground. He told Toph to stand back from the edges of the cage and began to beat bars once again. It wasn't long before Toph was free, Sokka grabbed her arms to guide her, since she couldn't see standing on the wooden floor (they removed all the rocks because if they hadn't, Toph could just earthbend one into the bars of her cell and escape, or tunnel through the bottom or something).

When we finally left the dreary prison, it was dark outside. The sun had gone down long ago, and there must have been a million stars visible in the night sky. We walked a little ways, with Toph and Aang leading the way with their feet-seeing, but eventually we came to a forest and decided to rest when Sokka tripped over a large tree root that he didn't see.

We set up camp in a small, clear area of the forest. Sokka gathered sticks for a fire, Katara began cooking a meal, Aang set up a tent, and Toph went to gather water. I felt useless, so I decided to try to help Katara cook. I lit a fire under her large pot, and then sat and stared at her blankly with nothing to do. She shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. "Can I help you?" she asked awkwardly.

"I should be asking you that."

"Well the answer is no, you can't help. I don't want anything burning or being spilled."

"Am I that incompetent? I think I can help you cook, Katara."

"I really don't need help, just… just sit down somewhere."

I sat on a log for a few minutes, before noticing that Aang was having troubles with setting up the tent. I sprang into action. (A/N: yes, sprang. Zuko is a superhero.)

I wordlessly grabbed part of the tent and started to assemble it. Aang was too short to be assembling a tent, he hadn't grown much in the past four years, and was still relatively short. Still a little shorter than Katara.

Once the tent was assembled and usable, Aang and I talked to pass the time. An awkward, slow conversation that didn't really get much of anywhere, but it was still nice to talk to an old friend. I hadn't seen him in a few years; since the beginning of all this madness with the spirit world. Aang had spent a lot of time in the Fire Nation, helping to rebuild the world with the balance of the nations in mind. He left often, being a nomad, to travel, but he always returned. But once the people started messing with the balance between the spirit world and the physical world, he poured all his energy into fixing it. He didn't return to the Fire Nation again.

When Katara called us out to eat, we sat around a fire and talked, just like old times. While we ate, Sokka drew a picture.

"Now I've been working on improving my art skills lately. I didn't want to let my natural talent go to waste after all! So don't be surprised if this picture blows your minds a little," he said proudly before holding up a god-awful picture of all of us.

Katara: "I didn't think it was possible, but you've actually gotten _worse_ at drawing, Sokka!"

Me: "Yeah, and why are there six people? There's only five of us."

Sokka: "THAT ONE'S MOMO, CAN'T YOU TELL?"

Aang: "I thought it was Katara."

Katara: "I don't look like that!"

Aang: "Well I don't look like _that_!" *points to the one with the arrow*

Sokka: "Of course you don't look like that, that's Appa! _This_ one's you."

Zuko: "I thought that was me?"

Sokka: "This one's you!"

Katara: "Then where are you?"

Sokka: "You guys obviously have no appreciation for true artistic ability. Right Toph?"

Toph: "Even though I'm blind, I can _feel_ the mediocrity of that picture, it's bouncing off in waves. Good job, Snoozles."

Sokka angrily grabbed his paints and paper and put them back in the tent. When he returned, he plopped on a log and violently ate seconds of the stew Katara made. Toph patted him on the back as he sulked.

One by one, everyone started to fall asleep. Toph was first, slumped against Sokka's shoulder. Sokka was second, since he had been trying not to move for so long, as not to wake Toph. Aang curled up and fell asleep by the fire, and then there were two. Katara and I stared blankly at each other for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say.

A/N: I leave you there, so the person I'm collaborating can start with a nice Zutara moment ;) if she chooses to, of course. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey, ya, so thanks for the reviews….oh wait, there aren't any :P Anyway, hopefully you keep reading. This collab is going quite well I'd say. Please leave your feedback.

Katara's POV

I watched Zuko for a minute after he had turned his face to gaze into the fire. His pale skin illuminated from the flames of the fire. The expression on his face was…peaceful, to say the least. It was hard to believe that this man was the Firelord, regardless of how vulnerable he looked right now.

I scooted a bit closer to Zuko, and tried to keep my eyes away from him.

Suddenly, I felt a hand wisp away a piece of hair from my face, and looked up to see Zuko looking at me with a lustrous look on his face.

He leaned in closer, still holding his hand close to my face. When he was about 3 inches away from my lips, he stopped.

Aang had moved in his sleep and turned over, causing Zuko to think he had woken up, momentarily.

"I think I'm going to go to bed. Good night, Katara." Zuko said with a quick smile as he stood up to grab a thin sheet from out supply bag and lay down away from the blazing fire.

I awoke the next morning, with the thought of Zuko still in my head.

Thanks to him, I hadn't been able to sleep well, so I felt especially groggy this morning.

According to Sokka, we were going to try and think of a plan today, and maybe go into a nearby town and get some more supplies.

I decided it was best to comply to the normal routine of the day, even with such a sleepless night. It would just be easier to keep my mind occupied.

Aang's POV

I woke up with a feeling of excitement for the day, with good reason to. I was finally reunited with my friends, and it felt just like old times.

After getting up, we discussed what the schedule for the day was.

In the end, we decided Katara and I would head into town, to get the supplies, while everyone else would do other chores around the site, like gather water, prepare food, start a fire, etc.

I was pretty glad it would be just me and Katara going to town, but she seemed a bit off today. I just hoped she would shake it off as we began to head into town.

Zuko's POV

I know I scared Katara last night.

I had almost kissed her until I became aware of Aang being close by, and that he could easily wake up at any moment.

Today, I can tell she is still thinking about it. She won't even look at me though.

It isn't so much that I like Katara that way, it was just how she was last night. She had looked so beautiful in the dark like that, with the glow of the fire shining on her face. It had just kind of happened, I never really meant it to.

I think I should apologize, I don't want to lead Katara on and have her think I like her that way. Especially if Aang were to find out. That kid has had a crush on her since I tried to capture him in the Southern Water Tribe the first time.

I knew for a fact, because he had even told me himself.

"Zuko! Pay attention!" yelled Sokka as the bucket I was holding overflowed with water.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as I pulled my hands from the waterfall.

Then we began heading back to our campsite. We had decided that once Katara and Aang came back we would begin to plan out what our first move was for the war.

When we got back to the site, it was no surprise to see them not back yet, being they had only left for town a few minutes before we left for the river.

It was just Toph, Sokka, and I crowded around our tiny pit, that used to hold a fire until they returned.

Katara's POV

After gathering the needed supplies, we began to head back to the site.

I could feel Aang's gaze on me the whole way there. He knew something was up, but I'll be darned if I should let him know what it was.

We walked in silence, with a very awkward and tense feeling in the air.

Then, it came, he had finally summed up the courage to ask me what was wrong.

"Katara, are you okay? You've been acting strange all day." he said.

"Yeah, just fine." I told him in the most reassuring voice I could attempt.

I could tell he wasn't convinced, but he didn't ask any further as we entered the site, and were greeted by the others, as it was time to plan our first move.

Sokka's POV

"Ok, now that we have everyone all together, we need to decide what we are going to do first!" I said as I laid out a piece of paper to write ideas on.

"Well, the people aren't going to listen to us obviously," said Toph, "So I'd say that our best bet would be to start by trying to compromise with the spirits first."

"I've already tried that, and now they won't let me back into the spirit world." said Aang.

"Well yeah, but they haven't kicked any of us out!" She responded.

"But what would make our case any different then Aang's?" Zuko asked.

"Aang is the Avatar. They can control when he can come and go. If they could stop humans from entering the Spirit World, they would have already." Toph said.

We all stared in awe at Toph, who had just figured out the first part of the design to our plan to stop the fighting of the two worlds.

A/N: Sorry I changed the POV so much, it just made it easier to understand if you kept up with it XD


	6. Chapter 6

Zuko's POV

"Alright, so we'll go into the Spirit World tomorrow. But who would we be trying to talk to? Who would we need to find that would listen to us _and_ be powerful enough to help us?" I asked. That was a good point, I hadn't even thought about that yet.

"There's only one spirit I know that could help us… But I don't think we should go see him. It's really dangerous," Aang said. We stared at him, expecting him to continue. He didn't.

"Why is he so dangerous?" Katara finally spoke. Aang paused for a long time; and for a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer. Finally, he spoke again.

"His name is Koh. He's the one of the oldest and wisest spirits in the Spirit World. But if you show any emotion in his presence, he will steal your face. He's extremely dangerous," Aang said slowly, obviously regretting mentioning the spirit at all.

"We have to go to him then! He could know how to-" Katara started.

"Or he could steal your face! Katara, I know you want to do everything you can to help the world… we all do. But he could kill you easily! I'm not letting anyone get hurt," Aang said.

"What if Zuko goes? He's pretty expressionless," Sokka suggested. I glared at him, even though it was true. Aang glanced at me, and I nodded in agreement. If going to seek information from Koh was the plan, I _would_ be the best candidate to meet with him face to face.

"…I suppose it could work. Honestly, I'm confident that you can do it. If you think you can too, then it's a plan," Aang said.

"Alright, so tomorrow, we go to see Koh!" Sokka shouted excitedly.

"Actually, I think you guys should stay behind. Aang can't go into the Spirit World, and we can't leave him out here alone," I said.

"Well we can't let you go into the spirit world alone! Sokka, you'll go with Zuko. Toph and I can stay here with Aang," Katara said. Sokka nodded in agreement, and we finished polishing the plan before going to sleep.

The next morning, I was the first to wake up. I sat up groggily, and went to start breakfast. It was still early in the morning, and the temperature was low. The sun had barely risen and it was cold. I started a fire, and sat by it, thinking about how to deal with Koh. Although Sokka was going with me to the spirit world, he would not be following me into Koh's cave unless I needed help.

I sat there for a few minutes, until Sokka sat next to me. I hadn't even heard him get up.

"Are you nervous?" he asked. He looked serious, which was abnormal for the meathead.

"No." I lied. There was an awkward pause, neither of us knowing what to say. "Are you?" I asked after some time.

"I'm nervous for you," he said. I was surprised; I wasn't used to having somebody looking out for me.

"Don't be, I'll be fine. I'll have you with me, anyway," I said, immediately flushing at how unintentionally suggestive that had sounded. Sokka's face was also red, and I mentally kicked myself for saying something so stupid.

"I won't be much help. I'm just the cheerleader," he said. After another awkward pause, Sokka stood up, deciding that this "conversation" thing wasn't getting anywhere. He started to walk away to wake up Katara, Aang, and Toph, since the sun had been up for some time now, but stopped as he passed me.

"Be careful, buddy!" he yelled as he patted me on the back. I smiled a little (A/N: does Zuko ever smile more than a little?) and nodded.

Sokka's POV

After breakfast was finished and cleaned up, everyone was dressed for the day, and the chores were finished, there was nothing more we could do to procrastinate form our mission. It was time to go into the Spirit World and see Koh.

Zuko and I sat back to back, meditating. When I eventually opened my eyes, I found that we had reached our destination, and neither of us had even noticed.

"Zuko, we're here!" I whispered, shaking him violently.

"Ow, stop that! Why are you whispering?" He whispered back.

"I'm not sure; I didn't want anything to eat us for disturbing the peace or anything like that…" I replied. He rolled his eyes and stood up, surveying our surroundings. I pulled out a map of the area, a badly drawn map that Aang had made for us before we left.

"OK, well we're right next to that really big tree, which is… right here on the map! So we're not _too_ far away…"

"How far is it?" Zuko asked.

"Well, all we have to do is go downstream on that river a little ways until we see a forest. Then, we pass through that, over the pit of… what looks like giant pointy rocks, and boom! We're right in front of Koh's cave!"

"Oh, is _THAT_ all…"

"Well, it could be worse. We've just gotta get going," I said, starting toward the river. Zuko followed, and not long after, we had reached it.

"How do we cross it?" Zuko asked. Good question.

"I'm still working on that," I replied.

"We could cut down a small tree or something, and build a boat; or a larger tree, and use it as a bridge," Zuko said. I thought about that for a moment, but then decided it wasn't a good idea.

"I think… that's probably why the spirits have so many problems with the humans. We're so quick to destroy the life of something that we consider insignificant, like a tree, for our own benefit. But someone once told me that everyone and everything was connected to each other. That we were all branches of the same tree. (A/N: referring to The Swamp) I think, at least while we're in the spirit world, we should respect that what grows and lives here isn't ours to touch," I said.

"That's probably true. I agree with you. But we still have to find a way across the- what are you doing?"

"Taking my shirt off. The way I see it, the only way we're getting across the river is to swim. And I don't want my clothes to be soaked," I replied, still undressing (wearing underpants, of course!). I pulled my hair down and started wading into the river. "What are you waiting for? Can't you swim?" I called to Zuko.

"Of course I can swim!" he shouted, taking off his shoes and shirt. We put all of our clothes on a big leaf we had found and floated them across the river. The water was freezing, so we swam as fast as we could.

When we came to the edge of the forest, we hopped out of the water as fast as we could. After drying off for a bit, we put our clothes back on. I retied my warrior's wolf-tail, and we set into the forest.

Zuko's POV

It was dark. I could hardly see my hand in front of my face; it was so dark. I couldn't make a fire to help us see, since bending doesn't work in the spirit world. I grabbed hold of Sokka's shoulder, so we could stay together. He desperately tried to read the map, but eventually gave up on it.

"We've been walking for so long, I wouldn't be surprised if we've been going in circles all along," I said.

"Neither would I, but we've gotta be close, right?" he asked, tripping over a tree root.

"I guess so…" I said. He was either hopeful or desperate, I couldn't tell which.

But after a few more minutes of walking, a light from the other side of the forest illuminated our path. Sokka took off sprinting towards it, while I continued walking.

"This is it! The end of the forest! We're so close to Koh's cave!" he shouted.

"Can you see the canyon from there?" I call.

"You mean the pit of pointy rocks? I can see the edge, but I can't see down it. But we're out of the forest, the worst part is over!"

"You're speculating."

"So?"

When I reach where he's standing, we start to walk again. Toward the canyon.

"Oh no."

"'Oh no' what?"

Sokka pointed down the canyon. I walked to where he was, for a better view. And the view wasn't good. There were so many sharp rocks down there, it looked impossible to cross.

"Woah. How are we going to cross that?" I asked.

"I wish I knew. There's not enough room in between each rock to walk through it without being impaled. So, we can't go through it. We could try to work on a way over it, if we can't think of something better."

"How long would it take to go around it?"

"A long time. It goes on forever!"

"Well then, over seems to be our only option. Maybe we could-"

"I'VE GOT IT! See those birds over there? We can get a ride on one of them!"

"One problem. Those birds are huge and mean, and would much rather eat us then help us."

"Well, there's no other way. Come on, we've got to try!"

I surrendered and tried to help Sokka get one of them to fly us over the canyon. We used a burlap sack (that we had been carrying supplies in) to muzzle it, and then got vines as reins. I hated to admit it, but it actually looked like it was going to work. We could really fly across the canyon.

"Fly, Mr. Bird! Fly us over the canyon! Who's a good bird? You are! You can do it! YES!" Sokka yelled as the bird flapped its wings and began to carry us over the canyon.

"Mr. Bird? What if it's a girl?"

"Well, if you can think of a better name, then be my guest."

I sighed, and we sat there in silence for a few moments before we reached the other side of the canyon. Sokka thanked the bird and we took back our burlap sack. We now stood outside of Koh's cave.

"You ready?" Sokka asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I reply nervously. He pats me on the back.

"You'll do fine. I'll be right here, if you need me. And remember, no emotion."

"Right…" I take a deep breath to calm myself, and step into the darkness of the cave.

"I'm looking for the Spirit called Koh," I call.

The small face of a mime-like mask appears in front of me, attached to a huge, centipede's body.

"You seek my assistance? I think I can be of service. I don't believe I have any human faces in my collection, yet… Fire Lord Zuko."


	7. Chapter 7

Aang's POV

"Zuko and Sokka have been gone for a long time" Said Toph flatly.

She was sitting on a huge boulder, with a piece of straw hanging from her mouth.

"Yeah, I know, I'm getting worried about them. It is starting to get dark" Katara replied with a troubled look on her face.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes, hoping the two would return soon.

Then, Katara stood up, and stated that she was going to go get some more water from the river.

As she walked away, I looked towards Toph, who was still on the boulder, with her head facing upwards as if she were watching the dark clouds. Which, for her, was impossible.

It made me wonder how it felt to blind. Never being able to see any animals, colors, nature, or anything else. It was impossible to imagine. We could see everything, and never thought anything of it. We took the privilege of being able to see such wonderful things for granted.

"Why are you so quiet, Twinkle Toes?" Asked Toph, disrupting me from my thoughts.

"Oh, nothing…" I respond.

It became silent again, and the awkwardness of the silence was setting in.

Zuko's POV

The creature stared at me with menacing eyes. My first reaction would normally be to run, but I could not turn back now.

It was much harder to not show emotion than I thought, even for me. I had to get myself to relax multiple times just keep any sort of expression away.

"How do you know who I am?" I ask, even though I just figure it was because he was a spirit.

"Well" He said menacingly, as his centipede legs crawled around the cave, "I happen to know most of who every human is, especially the ones who helped the Avatar a few years back."

He cracked a widening smile, and his eyes laid on me as though he were just waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

I tried harder and harder to keep it together. It took a lot of my strength just to keep from backing away from him.

"Then if you know so much, could you help me?"

"With what, my young Fire Lord?" He asks.

"We want peace to return to both worlds, but we have no clue where to start. We were hoping you could give us some helpful information."

"Hmmm…I suppose I could…."

The creature walked around a bit more. I figured he was waiting for me to ask him what information he could give to me.

"Well, I suppose you should know that there is a person, or spirit perhaps, that first allowed the humans to dwell in the Spirit World." Koh finally responded.

"Which spirit was it?" I blurt out quickly, causing Koh to turn around towards me, and look into my face. I resumed my expressionless position as he continued on.

"His name is An. He is very powerful, and does his best to keep peace in the Spirit World."

"He has obviously failed." I say to him.

He laughs at that and says, "I suppose he has, his judgment is certainly lacking. He had no idea how stupid and destructive humans are."

His eyes pierce through mine once again as he tries to see through to some emotion on my face.

Sokka's POV

I sit alone outside, waiting for Zuko to return from Koh's cave. He had been in there for awhile, and I'll admit, I was getting kind of worried about him.

I grew more impatient as time went on, and desperately tried to find something to keep me occupied.

Then, I see a Hog Monkey walking by.

"Hey, you, come here!" I say as I begin to chase after it.

Surprised, it turns to look at me.

I stop in my tracks at what I see. This animal had no face.

I scream and run back to my spot outside of the cave.

Again, I try to find something to keep my mind off of what could possibly be going on inside of the cave, I had no idea if Zuko was okay, and I knew I really shouldn't go inside to check.

Eventually, I decide it had been to long, and I will go see if Zuko is alright.

I begin walking into the cave, feeling my way through by holding onto the walls.

I begin to hear voices and begin to walk towards them. Then, Zuko's voice becomes clear, along with an unfamiliar voice.

When Zuko comes into view, he looks towards me, and his face fills with a mixture of shock and fear.

Then I see why he is afraid.

On the other end of the cave is a large centipede-like creature with a woman's face, that soon changes into a demon creatures face.

"Well, who is this, Fire Lord Zuko? A friend perhaps?" The creature says as he begins coming towards me.

I become scared and begin to sweat as it comes closer. It obviously notices my fear, and starts going faster.

"Run, Sokka!" Zuko yells as the creature tries to attack me.

Without hesitation, I break into a sprint to the end of the cave. The creature was following close behind, and so was Zuko.

"Stop, Koh!" Zuko yelled after the creature.

Suddenly, the creature comes to a halt and turns around to face Zuko.

"You are right, why would I want this peasants face, when I could have the Firelord's?" He says with a menacing grin as he heads towards Zuko.

Trying to think quickly, I grab a rock from the floor of the cave, and hurl it towards Koh.

It hits him, but doesn't affect him in the slightest.

I begin running towards Zuko, trying to get to him before Koh could.

Chapter End note: Sorry this one took me so long. I was on vacation and since I got back I haven't had the time or motivation to write. I promise the next chapter by me will be much better and longer :D


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you to our one reviewer! Silverlilly909, you're my favorite person. And to everyone else, if you add the story to your favorites, review it too! Even if you just say hi, or senselessly flame us, write _something_!

_Trying to think quickly, I grab a rock from the floor of the cave, and hurl it towards Koh._

_It hits him, but doesn't affect him in the slightest._

_I begin running towards Zuko, trying to get to him before Koh could._

Sokka's POV (suddenly present tense?)

I finally reach him; fractions of a second before Koh does, and push him face down into the dirt. I dive down too, practically on top of him, also face down. Zuko and I stay in the dirt for several minutes, trying to compose ourselves, and stand up slowly when we finally do.

"Thank you for your time; we'll be leaving now," I say, and we hurry out of the cave. We sit a safe distance away and calm down a little.

I suddenly realize I'm shaking with fear. I start laughing, and Zuko stares at me. "That was terrifying! I must've been really scared, I'm trembling all over! You're lucky I was there, or you'd be faceless right now!" I laugh.

"Lucky? You're the one that caused the problems, you idiot! I would've been just fine if you hadn't intervened!" Zuko says, holding back a smile.

"Just be grateful that I saved your butt!" I yell jokingly.

"Thanks. Even though it _was_ your fault, you really came through. You did well, for a dummy," He smirks.

"Anytime, buddy. So, did you get any useful information from Koh before he tried to kill you?" I ask.

"He said we're supposed to be looking for a spirit named An. He can help us. Maybe we should go and tell the others? See if we need to regroup?"

"That's a good idea. Now how do we get back?"

"I'm not sure. I think we need to find our bodies? So that means we should go back the way we came."

(A/N: Since it will be the same journey as chapter 6 backwards, I will spare you readers the trouble of reading it twice and just skip to the next scene.)

Zuko's POV

When we found our bodies again, it was the middle of the night. I debated waking everyone up, and decided not to. I was exhausted, and I'm sure Sokka was too. Even more so, probably, since he had been carrying all our belongings around. He collapsed into his sleeping bag without saying a word, and fell asleep immediately. I smile and do the same.

I wake up the next morning to the smell of breakfast. I run into Katara as I exit my tent.

"Oh good, you're up. I was just coming to get you. Breakfast is ready, and we want to hear all about what Koh said, so hurry up and get dressed!"

"Uh… sure." I wasn't sure what else to say; I was still half-asleep. She leaves and I get dressed for the day and sit on a rock next to Toph. (A/N: She hasn't been getting much love in the story thus far )

"Aang, do you have any idea where we can find An?

"Not really. Anybody have a plan from here? Sokka?"

"…I think the only thing we can do for now is split up. Katara, Zuko, and I will all go into the spirit world, while Aang stays here with Toph."

"Why do I have to stay behind? Just because I'm blind, doesn't mean I can't help you… look for… yeah, I'll stay with Aang."

"Bending doesn't work in the Spirit World, anyway. Otherwise, we'd let you come."

"Well, before we go planning all of this, let's think rationally: How are we even going to find him? None of us even know what he looks like, much less where he is!"

"Katara has a point. We can't possibly search the entire Spirit World at random to find one spirit!"

"That's why we need to split up. He's the spirit who let the humans into the Spirit World originally. He's got to be pretty infamous there. There's bound to be wanted posters or people who know where he is!"

"That's true. Sokka, Katara and I will go and look, and come back and regroup if we don't find any leads."

"I think that's a good plan. We'll just get our stuff together and be on our way then!"

We packed everything we'd need for our trip. With everything ready to go, we ventured off into the Spirit World in hopes of finding An.

Katara POV

The Spirit World is dark and quiet. It's frightening. I walk slowly and silently, between Sokka and Zuko, clinging to their arms for support. This place is strange and unfamiliar, and we walk without seeing anyone for a long time. Finally, we come to a doorway. It looks much like the doorway to a home, but more eerie.

We hesitate at the door for a moment, but I step foreword and knock. Sokka and Zuko are close behind me as a head pokes out from the door.

"What do you want? I'm very busy, you know."

"We're in search of the spirit named An. Do you know where he is?"

"An? Yeah, I know where he is. You're not from around here, are you? Everyone knows about _him_."

"No, we're from… far away. Could you tell us where to find him?"

"I'd think you wiser not to, but if you must know, he was taken to prison."

We thanked the man for his time while turning to leave.

"Well, who's up for another jailbreak?"


End file.
